Investigating the role of "Italian Origin" claim and other key attributes in price determination: A hedonic pricing study in the olive oil markets of Italy and Sweden

With high competition and a saturated market in the food sector, particularly in Mediterranean foods, deep analysis and creativity in strategic decisions play a powerful and inevitable role. The determining characteristics of the olive oil market, or in other words, extrinsic values are the undertakers for the final price fluctuations which are exposed to consumer purchases. Geographical indication, organic labels or Italian claims perform crucial roles in the olive oil dynamic pricing and these players demonstrate different behavior in different countries of the European Union or even the regions in one country like Italy. Variation in the food industry increases consumer expectations around the world where most of the time, competition among producers takes place in the export destination. Italian growers who produce thousands of tons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil over the years, employ native values of Italian olives to provide the premium quality while they must monitor challenges such as disease, climate change or other incidents. Also simultaneous export and import in this sector implies the relevance of olive oil trade flow and the strong impacts of that on the economic dimensions in southern European countries. Wine, citrus fruits and fresh vegetables, pork, cheese, and pasta are the other foodstuffs that improve the international market even in non-EU countries, using the hectares of profitable landscapes. Results show the importance of utilizing hedonic pricing where different values detect consumer preferences. Therefore, in this research, the prices of Extra Virgin Olive Oil in Italy and Sweden are analyzed to investigate differences.